May 2026!
Day 1
Day 1
On May 24, we met at the Macau International Airport at 6 AM and then took off around 9:30 AM, landing around 2 PM (Japan time) in Tokyo at the Narita International Airport. We headed to the hotel buffet dinner. We ate many plates, with some people even finishing up to 7 plates!!! Shocking!!! We headed to bed ready for the full day ahead.
Day 2
Day 2
For our second day in Tokyo, we woke up, had breakfast, and left the hotel at 9AM. Our first destination for the day was the Tsukiji Outdoor Fish Market, where we got a couple of hours of time to sample a variety of fresh fish and explored the area. Once we regrouped, we headed to Senso-ji temple for lunch and shopping. Hope no one was afraid of heights, because our last destination of the day was Tokyo Skytree, where we headed to the observation platform, which sits 350 meters above ground level! After this, we went for dinner and took the public bus back to our hotel for a good night's rest.
Mr. Sharma & Ms. Estera
Sensoji Temple
Boys take advantage of a spectacular view of Tokyo from Skytree tower.
Day 3
Day 3
For our 3rd day in Tokyo, we had a bit more walking to do and a few more crowded areas to visit. First we headed over to the Kintsugi workshop and fixed a small broken plate using gold. After walking around, we spent time in the train again to go to an area called Harajuku with lots of tiny stores near the Meiji Jingu Shrine. After having some time to shop and eat lunch, we went to the Meiji Shrine to learn a bit about its history and making wishes, take photos, and enjoy the crowds. From around 6PM to 8PM, we spent watching a baseball match between the Yakult Swallows and the Seibu Lions. We later took the train station to the place in front of our hotel in Ryogoku, got some food, and then rested in our hotel rooms until curfew!
Shibuya Crossing
Ms. Ross looking at the match with a telescope!!!
Kintsugi -- Pottery
Meiji Shrine
Barrels of alcohol (at Meiji Shrine)
Day 4
Day 4
On day 4, we woke up and headed immediately to the Mt. Fuji Subaru 5th Station. We stopped for roughly 2 hours, in which the students were able to do some shopping, eat some lunch, make a wish, go to the nearby small temple, take pictures, and/or ride a horse! Many students went to buy some souvenirs and ate some snacks like warm sausages. By the time we were about to leave, there were a lot of clouds, and it started to get foggy. We were told that we were extremely lucky since most days we are not able to see Mt. Fuji clearly during the bus ride there, and we were also told that the weather was extremely nice! Right after that, we made our way to Lake Kawaguchiko and took amazing photos and had amazing views of Mt. Fuji from afar. Students and teachers were recommended to try the blueberry ice cream (or any ice cream, for that matter) as well as see the beautiful flowers nearby. After another short bus ride, we made our way to the Arakura Sengem Shrine and walked over 400 stairs to the top, getting a clear view of the temple and the small town beneath! We went back to our hotel and had dinner.
Group photo at Arakura Sengem Shrine
Group photo near Mt. Fuji!!!
Kyle and Kian having a great time at the Arakura Sengem Shrine
Ms. Estera posing with her ice cream(s)
Mt. Fuji car sign
Lake Kawaguchiko view
Day 5
Day 5
Today we started our day off by going to the Bunkyo area to learn how to make origami. We made big paper cranes and created lips that moved (open and close) as we opened and closed the paper. Because the classroom was small, we separated into 2 groups; one will stay behind to do some origami for roughly 1 hour, and the other group will go to a nearby temple and either make some wishes, shop at the gift shop, or even look at the horse (a horse that is placed there so that when the gods arrive, they will have something to transport them in). After both groups were done, we moved on to our service component, a river cleanup, where we spent roughly 1-3 hours cleaning up at tributaries that run from the northern areas of Tokyo to the bay and eventually to the Pacific Ocean by collecting trash such as cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles, etc. We fueled up on some lunch at the AEON food court! Because we did so well, Ms. Ross bought all of us ice cream later on! After a messy cleanup, we rushed over to our hotel to have a quick cleanup and headed straight to Akihabara, where the students got some time to walk around, shop, eat dinner, and then take a train back to our hotel to end the day!
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